Delhi: Attempt to illuminate Raisina Hills turns visually unpleasant

HIGHLIGHTS

To make North-South Block look appealing, CPWD has used illuminations of different colours.

CPWD implemented the idea and hired a private vendor to install the lighting fixtures.

Experts pointed out that floodlighting is usually not used on heritage structures.

Terming the civic body's plan to illuminate North and South Block buildings as 'novice efforts', expert cited global examples of illumination such as Parliament of Germany and Buckingham Palace.

HIGHLIGHTS

To make North-South Block look appealing, CPWD has used illuminations of different colours.

CPWD implemented the idea and hired a private vendor to install the lighting fixtures.

Experts pointed out that floodlighting is usually not used on heritage structures.

If the hills had eyes, they would be sore by now. Conservationists and experts are cringing at the Central Public Works Department's "unskilled" and "novice" efforts to illuminate the iconic North and South Block buildings with dynamic lighting using "16 million colour combinations" every night from Wednesday.

The CPWD conceptualised and implemented the idea and hired a private vendor to install the lighting fixtures. But it overlooked the need for professional aid and advice, leaving field specialists appalled at the final look and technique employed on the historic buildings at Raisina Hills flanking Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Experts pointed out that floodlighting is usually not used on heritage structures, especially on those in use, and instead softer lights arranged in different patterns are preferred in a bid to avoid affecting those living or working inside the buildings.

Around the world, historic sites like London's Big Ben, Paris's Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, and many others, light up during evening hours.

"Floodlighting is a bad idea and in technical terms causes light pollution, which simply would mean that the light spills over to the atmosphere and pervades into the living or workspace. In this case, hundreds of staffers work at these two buildings till late into the evening and with the present harsh floodlights, when they exit from their offices, the lights will hurt their eyes. The profusion of colours is best not talked about," said a senior heritage conservationist, requesting anonymity.

Sources said the CPWD, which functions under the ministry of housing and urban affairs, has spent Rs 15 crore on the project. Reacting to the initial images of the trial runs of the illumination, an independent lighting designer and expert told Mail Today, "I have not seen it live but just the initial images and the first impression is very scary. A national monument cannot be treated like a plaything. Using the entire spectrum of a rainbow could be done in a nightclub or exhibition or some carnival, never on a serious building of this stature." He too pointed out that floodlighting is unadvisable for office buildings. "Also colours should not go inside the building into workspaces," he added.

"There is a separate specialised stream of lighting designers who know how to enhance buildings. A designer should have been engaged." Highly placed sources in CPWD said that after North and South Block, the Rashtrapati Bhavan too is set to be illuminated but the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage - a conservation body that has been hired to restore the building - has put its foot down on not implementing a similar illumination concept.

"The final plans are still being drawn up for Rashtrapati Bhavan as INTACH has some ideas, which are being considered by us", said a CPWD official who did not wish to be named. INTACH officials working on the project refused to comment on the issue, deeming the project details "confidential".

Defending the illumination effort, a senior official in the ministry of housing and urban affairs said, "The entire project has been implemented under the supervision of CPWD and everything has been done as per standards. On previous occasions, the illumination had 50,000 LED lights hanging and wires would get nailed on the walls but this new lighting does not need any tinkering of the iconic building. The lighting system is many times more energy efficient, which results in huge energy saving. All the 800 lights are fitted outside on the ground. The outrage is misplaced because no one has seen it so far with their own eyes."

Asked if an expert was engaged to design the lighting system, the official said, "CPWD has all kind of talent. The design, conception and execution were done by them while Phillips is the supplier of lights." However, senior architectural conservationist Sunita Kohli, who restored the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House Colonnade, Prime Minister's Office and other iconic buildings, rejected the claim.

"The CPWD has no lighting expert and it is not the domain of engineers to design lighting of such historic buildings. Though I have not seen the illumination myself, I can only say that the North and South Block and Rashtrapati Bhavan have faced much apathy from governments and it took us 20 years only to get them declared heritage buildings. They need to be handled cautiously."

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